Man arrested after German woman alleges rape by driver in India
Suspect offered to give tourist and local friend ride to nearby market but took her to a secluded spot instead, police say
Police in south India’s Hyderabad city have arrested a man for allegedly raping a German tourist after offering her a drive.
The woman and her local friend were on their way to a nearby vegetable market late on Monday evening when they were approached by the suspect, 25, in a vehicle, police said.
The man, reportedly riding with five minor friends, offered to take the tourist and her friend for a drive. He took them to different locations and eventually to Mamidipally on the city’s outskirts. There he told the others to take selfies while he drove the German to a secluded spot about 100 metres away, where he threatened her life and sexually assaulted her, police said, adding she had been sent for a medical examination.
Police said the suspect then drove back to where he had dropped the others off and, as he slowed down, the woman jumped out and ran to her friend.
The friend, after learning what had happened, filed a complaint at the Pahadishareef police station.
Police said they had launched an investigation and seized the vehicle.
India has reported several incidents of sexual assault involving foreign visitors in recent years, sparking concerns about the safety of tourists, especially women.
Last month three men attacked a female Israeli tourist and her two local companions, a man and a woman, close to a popular Unesco World Heritage site in southern India’s Hampi. Police say they killed the man and gang-raped the Israeli woman and her friend.
In another widely reported incident from March last year, Indian police arrested seven local men for assaulting a travelling Spanish couple and gang-raping the woman in the eastern state of Jharkhand.
According to the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau, India recorded 31,516 rape cases in 2022, a 20 per cent increase over the previous year.